Nine
by KaitlynRae99
Summary: At first, she only remembered that her name was Nine, given to her by those that experimented on her. Until she escaped and was given a new name. Nina Lance. She was hiding in plain sight from the bad man. Ten years later and they still haven't found her. Until strange things began happening in Hawkins.
1. The Escape

**A YOUNG **Asian girl sat on a bed in a fully white room. The fluorescent lights made her skin look ghostly. The room was cold as evidenced by the goose bumps forming on the young girl's exposed skin as she only wore a thin hospital gown. She had no hair as it had been shaved almost to the skin on her scalp. Her dark eyes were looking down at her left inner forearm where 009 was tattooed in black ink on her skin. She has had that tattoo since she could remember.

She laid down on the bed and stared at the plain, white wall in front of her. This room was one of the only places she was allowed to be in making her feel like she was going crazy from consistently staring at the white walls. It was her prison cell...no matter how much 'Papa' would tell her it wasn't.

The door behind her opened causing her to sit up from the bed and look at the door to see a black-haired woman wearing white scrubs and an id clipped to the pocket of her scrubs with _Scarlett Adams_ printed on the id, standing in the doorway, holding a bag in her hand. Scarlett was consistently looking over her shoulder as she spoke to the young girl; "Nine, I need you to come with me."

The young girl, Nine, frowned her brows in confusion as she slowly slid off the bed before flinching slightly because of the cold cement underneath her bare feet. The woman grabbed onto Nine's wrist and began to drag her through the empty building as the workers had gone home for the day. Nine stumbled over her feet a few times as she was dragged faster than she could walk.

Scarlett sighed in relief when she finally reached the door to the carpark, but her relief was short lived as when she went to push the door open, she noticed it was locked. "Shit!" she cried out as her hand ran through her hair.

Nine slightly pushed the young woman out of the way and gripped the door handle. Suddenly, the door handle broke off from the door making Nine reach her other hand out to push the door wide open. The young girl looked at Scarlett who smiled down at her. She grabbed onto Nine's hand and began to drag her again towards a blue AMC Pacer. The woman opened the passenger door and placed Nine into the car before closing the door and rushing around to the driver's side.

"Let's get you out of here," Scarlett said to Nine who hadn't said a word.

The car took off as fast as it could and when it reached the gate, the woman didn't stop which luckily for her, the gate was open. "STOP!" the security guard at the gate cried out but he was ignored as the car drove past him.

He held an intercom to his mouth and spoke; "They escaped, sir."

The man on the other side of the intercom rolled his eyes before throwing the intercom at the wall causing it to break into pieces. "Find them!" he ordered causing those in the room to run out, trying to avoid his wrath.

After driving for several minutes, Scarlett pulled the car up at a two-story red cabin that was miles away from any other houses. Scarlett led Nine into the cabin who stared at her surroundings in amazement as she hadn't been outside the lab ever in her life. "We will have to give you a new name. How does Nina sound?" Scarlett asked once she locked the front door of the cabin.

Nina nodded her head before Scarlett led her to the couch and allowed her to sit down on it. "Nina, my real name is Olivia Lance. I gave the lab a false name because I was tasked to discover what the lab was experimenting on. No one knows that I rescued you and no one can ever know. Do you understand?" Olivia informed the young girl who nodded but remained silent.

A small smile formed on Olivia's face before speaking; "You can talk, Nina."

"Why?" was all the young girl said as she looked up at Olivia who big brown eyes.

Olivia let out a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. "I work for the government to put bad people away and keep good people safe. Those people were using you for your abilities, Nina. They wanted you to do bad things for them," she informed the young girl before she wrapped her arms around the girl.

Olivia was a spy for a top-secret government organisation who had been undercover as a nurse at Hawkins National Laboratory for a few weeks to gain evidence of what the labs were doing. She knew that rescuing Nina will force her to give up her job, but she didn't care as since she met Nina, all she wanted to do was keep her safe.

Over the next ten years, Nine's name was changed to Nina Lance with Olivia Lance becoming her adoptive mother. Olivia informed her agency that she quit before she took a job as a police officer for the Hawkins Police Department. After home-schooling Nina for a year, she enrolled her into school. To everyone else, Nina Lance was just a regular girl in a small town. But she wasn't a normal girl.


	2. Hiding In Plain Sight

"**NINA**! Time to wake up for school!" a motherly voice called out from downstairs which echoed through the whole house.

A groan came from a mountain of bedsheets that were piled on top of someone. The sheets were pushed towards the end of the bed to reveal a teenage girl hiding under the sheets. She ran a hand through her messy black hair before opening her eyes to reveal her dark brown eyes. "Fuck school," the teenaged girl, Nina, snarled as she sat up in her bed.

She stretched her arms up and sighed in relief at the sounds of her joints cracking. After she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she looked down at her left inner forearm and glared down at the sight of 009 inked into her skin. Her hand reached down and threw the sheets off of her before swinging her legs around to rest on the wooden floors. She slowly stood up from the bed and entered the bathroom that was connected to her room. The bathroom had a shower and bath in one with a sink across from it and a mirror hanging above it. Makeup laid across the counter, but they looked hardly used.

Nina removed her pyjamas and throw them into the hamper that was sitting beside the counter before turned on the shower and stepping in once the water was at the perfect temperature. Once her face and body were washed, she turned off the shower and jumped out. Nina wrapped a black towel around herself before walking back into her room to find an outfit for the day. She pulled out a pair of dark washed jeans and a colourful striped turtleneck sweater. Once she was dressed, she laced up a pair of distressed black converse on her feet before she quickly threw her hair into a tight high ponytail.

Nina grabbed her black side bag before heading down the stairs where her mother was cooking breakfast. Olivia Lance turned away from the stove at the sounds of Nina's footsteps on the stairs. She quickly placed the cooked bacon and eggs onto a plate for Nina before placing the pan into the filled sink to be washed after they had eaten. "Morning, Mum," Nina greeted her mother with a kiss of her cheek before sitting down at the table and scoffing down her bacon and eggs.

Olivia shook her head at her daughter attacking her food like she hadn't eaten in years. The older woman leaned against the counter as she sipped her black coffee and watched her daughter. Once Nina had finished her breakfast, she dropped her plate in the soapy water before kissing her mother's cheek and grabbing her lunch that she packed for herself the night before. "Bye, Mum," she called out as she grabbed her keys from the bowl beside the front door before she walked out the front door and towards her blue AMC Pacer.

Once she was in her car, she started up the ten-year-old car and headed off to Hawkins High. She parked in her usual park, which was the furthest away from the school, but she didn't care as she didn't mind the walk. She sat in her car for a moment before she stepped out. As Nina walked towards the entrance to the school, she noticed her red-haired friend, Barbara Holland or Barb as she preferred to be called waiting outside for her. "Hey Nina," Barb waved to her friend before pulling her into a hug.

Nina hugged her back as she spoke into her ear; "Hello Barb."

They walked into the school together and went to Nina's locker for her to grab her books for the day. After she grabbed her books, they waited by her locker for their other friend, Nancy Wheeler to arrive at school.

When Nancy finally entered the school, Nina and Barb began to walk on either side of her. "So, did he call?" Barb asked Nancy, not caring about who could hear them.

"Keep your voice down," Nancy scolded her friend as she didn't want anyone to hear what they were discussing.

"So...Did he?" Nina asked even though she didn't care.

"I told you both, it's not like that," Nancy sassed both of her friends which made them both gave her a look of disbelief.

After a few moments of Barb and Nina staring down at Nancy, she cracked; "Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that. We just... made out a couple times."

"'We just... made out a couple times,'" Nina mocked Nancy with a large grin on her face as she leaned against the locker that was next to Nancy's locker.

"Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous," Barb informed her friend who was opening up her locker.

"No, I'm not," Nancy retorted back, shaking her head slightly in disbelief.

"You better still hang out with us, that's all I'm saying. If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol..." Barb was interrupted by Nancy saying; "Oh, that's gross! Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time..." Nancy stopped herself when she saw Nina and Barb raised an eyebrow at her.

"Two-time thing," her words caused a chuckle to escape from her lips while her friend shook their heads at her.

Nancy looked down to see a folded note at the bottom of her locker. She slowly unfolded it to read; _Meet me. Bathroom- Steve_

Barb and Nina looked down at note which made the redhead retorted sarcastically; "You were saying?"

"I'll see you guys in class," Nina said as she gave them a salute before walking towards her first class.

When she sat down in her regular seat in the back of the classroom, she noticed that the seat beside her was unoccupied which caused her brows to frown in confusion as the person would always beat her class. She quickly turned to the girl sitting beside her and asked; "Hey, do you know where Jonathan is?"

The girl snapped her gum and rolled her eyes towards Nina. "You think I care about that freak?" the girl snarled towards Nina who glared at her.

Nina gripped the down of her seat and caused feel the seat bending under her hands. She quickly removed her hands off the seat and was grateful that no one could see her display of her strength. Nina had to be careful about using her abilities because if the wrong person saw her use them, she would be sent back to the lab and that was the last thing she wanted.


	3. Will Is Missing?

**ONCE** school was let out, Nina rushed to her car and took off towards the Byers' house. In all the time she has known Jonathan, he rarely didn't turn up for school which made Nina grow concerned that something had happened. When she pulled up to the Byers' house, her brows frowned in confusion at the sight of her mother's patrol car parked out front of the house. She turned off her car and jumped out before walking towards the closed front door. She raised her hand and lightly knocked her knuckles before waiting for the door to open. She was only waiting a few moments until the door was open by her mother who was wearing her blue police uniform and a black wide-brimmed hat that covered her red hair that was pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Nina, what are you doing here?" Olivia asked her daughter who stared at her in disbelief before holding up a binder.

"I'm just wanted to drop off Jonathan's homework and check up on him. What are you doing here?" she asked back to Olivia who let out a sigh.

"You didn't hear it from me but...Will is missing," Olivia informed Nina who gasped in shock.

"He is missing?" she asked in disbelief which made Olivia nod at her.

As Jonathan and Nina were normally partnered up for assignments, Nina had met his younger brother, Will whom Nina knew was friends with Nancy's younger brother, Mike. Nina cared for Will as she viewed him as a younger brother so to hear that he was missing, almost broke her heart.

"Any leads on where he might be?" she asked Olivia who shook her head.

Nina's next question caused shivers to run down both of their spines; "You don't think...they are behind his disappearance?"

Olivia made Nina promise not to mention the lab ever to try and spare the young girl from the horrible memories associated with it. But nothing could make Nina forget the first six years of her life.

Not wanted to answer her daughter's question, Olivia grabbed the binder out of Nina's hands and said; "I'll give this Jonathan. You can go home."

"But..." Nina was stopped by her mother's glare, making her let out a loud sigh.

"Alright, let me know if I could do anything to help," Nina told Olivia before she walked back to her car.

She hoped that Will was okay and that the lab wasn't involved with his disappearance. But this was Hawkins. Nothing interesting happens and now a kid is missing. Nina guessed that some strange things were happening now in Hawkins.


	4. A Party Invite

"**WHEN** alpha particles go through gold foil, they become" Barb, who was reading off Nancy's flash cards, was interrupted by Nancy answering the question before Barb had even finished reading the question; "Unoccupied space."

Nina was walking beside them with her head buried in _The Shining_, ignoring the world around her.

"A molecule that can..." Barb stopped reading as the cards were ripped out of her hands by Steve Harrington.

Nina was pulled out of the world of her book by the book being ripped out of her hands by Carol, one of Steve's friends. Carol looked at the cover of Nina's book before remarking in a baby voice; "Is the movie too scary for you?"

Her remark caused a crackle to escape from Tommy H., her boyfriend, and an eye roll from Nina who quickly ripped her book back into her hands and moved to lean against the wall behind Steve.

"I don't know, I think you've studied enough, Nance," Steve said to the girl who he shuffled through her flash cards.

"Steve..." Nancy was cut by him; "I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Don't worry."

Nina rolled her dark eyes as she turned back to her book. "Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, - 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him," Steve explained making Tommy pipe up; "Good call."

"So, are you in?" Steve asked, looking down at Nancy whose brows were frowning.

"In for what?" she asked in confusion.

"No parents? Big house?" Carol spoke from where she was leaning against the wall.

"A party?" Nancy said making the others remark; "Ding, ding, ding!"

"It's Tuesday," Nancy piped up which caused Tommy to mock her; "It's Tuesday! Oh, my God."

Nina rolled her eyes again from behind her book as she heard Carol and Tommy laugh. "Come on. It'll be low key. It'll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?" Steve asked making Nancy think about her answer for a moment.

"Um..." she had started but was interrupted by Carol speaking; "Oh, God. Look."

The group turned around to see Jonathan Byers pinned something to the notice board. Nina closed her book and barged through Steve and Tommy, not caring about the force behind her shove. "Jonathan," she called out as she walked towards him.

Jonathan turned towards the girl and gave her a weak smile. "Hey Nina," was all he could say before she threw her arms around his shoulders.

"My Mum told me about Will. I'm so sorry," she informed him when she pulled away, but her hands remained on his shoulders.

"Thanks, Nina," Jonathan's eyes remained looking at the floor as he spoke.

"Let me know if there is anything I can do to help," Nina told him which caused his eyes to move up from the floor to her.

A small smile formed on her face as he gave her a nod. "Hey," Nancy's voice caused the pair to turn around to see her standing behind them, unsure of herself.

Not wanting to be a part of their conversation, Nina gave Jonathan one last hug before saying; "I'll see you around."

Nina walked back over to the others who stared at her like she had grown a second head. "Let's go, Barb," Nina said as she grabbed the red head's arm and glared at the others.

She dragged Barb down the hall towards their next class as a voice rang on the loudspeaker; "Attention, faculty and students. At 8:00 p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office."

* * *

"I don't wanna go to a party with 'King Steve' and his friends," Nina whined as she drove with Nancy in the passenger seat.

"Please, Nina," Nancy begged her friend who had stopped her car after pulling up to the Wheelers.

Nina clicked her tongue in annoyance as she looked towards her friend. Nancy's eyes were widened, and her bottom lip stuck out making Nina's eyes roll at her. After a few moments, Nina let out a sigh in defeat. "Fine...but you owe me big time," she snapped to her friend who let out a small cheer in victory.

"What are you going to tell your parents?" Nina asked in curiosity as she knew Mr and Mrs Wheeler would not let their daughter go to a party on a school night.

"I'll think of something," Nancy answered as she hadn't thought about what to tell her parents.

Nancy wrapped her arms around Nina's shoulders before jumped out of the car. "You go home and change. Barb and I will pick you up," was all Nancy said before she closed the door and ran towards her house.

Nina shook her head at Nancy before putting her car into drive and driving towards her house. When she arrived at hers, she noticed that her mother's cruiser was not parked outside the red house leading Nina to believe that her mother was working late.

After eating some leftovers, Nina dresses into a white button-up blouse with black lines that crisscrossed with each other, a maroon v-neck sweater over the blouse to keep her warm. The sweater and blouse were tucked into a denim skirt that ended a few inched above her knees and her legs were covered by a pair of grey tights. She laced up her converse before quickly a writing a note in case her mother come home saying that she was spending the night at Nancy's.

When Barb finally arrived to pick up Nina, Nina noticed that Nancy was almost jumping with excitement while Barb looked like she rather be anywhere else but driving to a party. Nina threw herself into the backseat and slumped against the seats as she really didn't want to go. The things you do for your friends.


	5. A Party Yay!

**NINA** was staring out the window with her forehead resting on the glass as Barb drove towards Steve's house. "Barbara, pull over," Nancy demanded Barb making Nina move her head off the window.

"What?" Barb asked in confusion which made Nancy snap back; "Pull over!"

Barb quickly pulled her car over and stopped before turning to Nancy in confusion. "What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away," Barb asked her friend in confusion.

"We can't park in the driveway," Nancy answered like it was obvious which made Nina let out a loud groan before snarling; "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, the neighbours might see," Nancy's word made Nina roll her eyes.

"This is so stupid. I'm just gonna drop you off," Barb said which Nina raised her hand in a joking manner.

"I'm going with you, Barb," she said in a joking manner which made Nancy glare at her through the rear-view mirror.

"Calm down, you guys. Come on. You two promised that you'd go. You both are coming. We're gonna have a great time," Nancy told her friend with a sweet smile on her face.

"He just wants to get in your pants," Barb informed her friend who shook her head in disbelief before letting out a chuckle.

"No, he doesn't," she said in sighed making Nina's eyes roll.

"Nance... seriously," Nina snapped making Nancy turn her head towards her before she continued; "He invited you to his house. His parents aren't home. Come on, you are not this stupid."

"Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there," Nancy tried to reason but her friends were not believing her.

"Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade," Barb stated which made Nina pipe up; "It'll probably just be, like, a big orgy."

"Gross," Nancy scoffed as she began to pull her arms out of her top.

"We're serious!" Barb exclaimed as Nina rolled her eyes again.

"All right, well you can be, like, my guardian. All right? Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid," Nancy explained as she pulled off her sweater to get changed into her 'party' shirt.

Barb looked down at Nancy and noticed something that made Nina shake her head. "Is that a new bra?" Barb asked, even though she knew the answer.

Nancy looked down at her new pink bra and hesitated to answer before lying; "No."

"Sure, sure," Nina muttered to herself sarcastically as she leaned back against the seat.

* * *

They walked up to the front door of a large house that loud music was coming from which made Nina remark under her breath; "His parents are some rich motherfuckers."

As they reached the front door, Nancy rang the door and noticed that Barb was shifted nervously. "Barb, chill," Nancy told to her red-head friend who looked down at her and remarked back; "I'm chill."

They weren't waiting a while until the front door opened to reveal Steve looking down at them with a charming smile. "Hello, ladies," he greeted the girls, looking between all of them.

He led them to the backyard where Carol and Tommy were messing around beside the pool. Barb and Nina sat down next to each other on the pool chairs which Nina reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out _Carrie _and began to read, ignoring the world around her. "One! Two! Three!" Tommy cried out as he pretended to throw Carol into the pool.

"Stop it, Tommy, no! Don't! You're such an asshole, Tommy," Carol screamed out as she hit his shoulder.

Their screams caused Nina to roll her eyes and as she looked over her book to see Steve piecing a hole into a beer can and began to shotgun the beer. She rolled her eyes and scoffed before returning to her book. Once Steve had finished his beer, he tossed the can away and sat down in the pool chair beside the one Nancy was sitting in. "Is that supposed to impress me?" Nancy asked him as he lit the cigarette that was resting on his ear and took a drag.

"You're not?" he asked in disbelief as Nina rolled her eyes from behind her book.

"You are a cliché, you do realize that?" Nancy informed him which made Steve remark back; "You are a cliché. What with your...your grades and your band practice."

"I'm so not in band," Nancy laughter as she shook her head at Steve's comment.

"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done, then?" Steve challenged as he held out the knife towards Nancy.

"Okay," she agreed as she grabbed the knife from his hand.

She reached into the cooler beside her and pulled out a can of beer before standing up from the pool chair she was sitting on. Nina saw out of the corner of her eye that Barb was shaking her head as Nancy giving into peer pressure.

"You gotta make a little hole right in..." Steve was cut off by Nancy saying; "I got it."

Steve held his hands up in defence as Tommy remarked: "Yeah, she's smart, you douche!"

Once Nancy had pierced the hole into the beer can and began to drink from it, the others beside Barb and Nina began to chant; "Chug, chug, chug."

Nancy had finished the beer and curtsied slightly as the sounds of cheers around her. She turned around to see Barb looking down at the floor and Nina buried in her book, not caring about Nancy's feat.

"Barb, you wanna try?" Nancy asked, wanting to make her friend feel included.

"What? No. No, I don't want to. Thanks," Barb declined Nancy's offer who grabbed another can of beer for Barb.

"Come on," Nancy tried to pressure Barb which Steve joined in on; "Yeah. Come on."

"Assholes, she doesn't want to do it," Nina piped up as she was no longer reading her book.

"Nance, I don't want to," Barb tried to tell her friend, but she wasn't listening.

"It's fun! Just give it a..." Nancy was cut off by Barb snapping; "Nance."

"Just...Just give it a shot," Nancy said as she walked towards Barb and placing the beer and knife into her hands.

"Okay," Barb sighed in defeat as she stood up from her chair.

"So, you just..." Barb began to speak but cut herself off as the knife cut her skin.

Nina let out a loud gasp as Tommy exclaimed; "Gnarly."

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked Barb as Nina stood up from her chair.

"Yeah," Barb answered which made Nancy remark; "Barb, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine," Barb responded as Nina turned to Steve and asked; "Where's your bathroom?"

"Oh, it's...It's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left," Steve answered making Nina nod at him.

"Okay. Thanks," she thanked him before grabbing onto Barb's arm and pulling her towards the bathroom.

Once they arrived at the bathroom, Nina turned on the tap and shoved Barb's hand under the stream of water. Barb flinched in pain making Nina quickly apologise. "Why are we here, Nina?" Barb asked as she watched her friend open the medicine cabinet and pull out band-aids.

Barb's question made Nina freeze before she let out a loud sigh. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I mean Nancy wanted us to come but I think she was only doing it to make us not feel let out," Nina suggested as she shrugged her shoulders.

She placed a band-aid over Barb's cut before they exited the bathroom together. After noticing no one was in the backyard anymore, they walked towards the front door and saw Nancy with a towel around herself walking up the stairs. "Nance!" Barb called out but Nancy didn't turn around to face them.

"Nancy," Nina called out which her voice made Nancy finally stop and turn around to face them.

"Where are you going?" Barb asked their friend who responded quickly with; "Nowhere."

Nancy then began to shutter with her answer as she knew her friends weren't stupid; "Just upstairs. To change. I fell in the pool."

Barb stared at her in disbelief while Nina raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why don't you two go ahead and go home? I'll just...I'll get a ride or something," Nancy suggested to them which made Barb say her name.

"Barb... I'm fine," Nancy smiled down at her friend.

"This isn't you," Barb exclaimed in disbelief, throwing her hands down in defeat.

"I'm fine. Just go ahead and go home, okay?" was all Nancy said before she walked back up the stairs.

Not wanting to hear what was going on upstairs, Nina sat on the edge of the pool with her feet in the pool after she had removed her shoes and tights. Barb, however, sat on the driving broad, looking down at her bandaged cut which was still bleeding heavily as she watched droplets of blood drip into the water. A sigh escaped from Nina as she leaned her upper body back so she now laying down with her feet still in the warm pool water.

After a few moments for silence, Nina removed her feet from the water and stood back onto her feet. "I'll be back," Nina informed her friend but didn't wait for a response.

Shoving her fingers into her ears so she couldn't hear what was going on upstairs, she quickly walked to the bathroom. Once she had done her business and returned back to the pool with her fingers still in her ears, she noticed Barb was no longer on the diving board. "Barb?" she called out for her friends but received no response.

Her brows frowned in confusion at her missing friend before letting out a sigh in defeat. Putting back on her tights and shoes, she grabbed her bag from where she left it on the pool chair and began the long walk back home. Before she left, however, she grabbed one of the pool chairs and folding it into a small ball. She bounced the ball in her hand a few times before throwing into the woods, watching it disappear into the darkness. A large smirk formed on her face before she turned on her feet and left the house. Unknown to her, Jonathan was hiding in the woods behind Steve's house and he stared in disbelief at his friend clashing a metal pool chair like it was a piece of paper before throwing it miles away from her. He could feel his hands shake at Nina's physical feat before wondering how she did that. What was she? Who was she?


	6. Now Barb Is Missing!

**NINA** walked into school the next day and looked around in confusion that Barb wasn't waiting outside for. Shrugging her shoulders, she thought that maybe Barb was waiting beside her locker but when she wasn't, Nina grew concerned for her friend. After grabbing her books for her classes, she made her way to find Nancy. However, Nina had misjudged her time before class as the bell echoed through the halls. "Shit," she muttered to herself as she forced herself to walk to class.

Nina didn't have any classes with Barb or Nancy until the end of the day which made Nina grow anxious as in all of her classes, she sat at her desk with her foot bouncing up and down. When the bell finally rang for lunch, Nina sprinted from her desk and made her way to find Nancy. "Nancy!" she called out from the down the hall from where Nancy was walking out of her class.

Nancy's head turned towards Nina's voice as Nina sprinted down the hall, avoiding hitting anyone else in the hall. "Have you seen Barb?" the girls spoke in unison making them frown their brows in confusion.

"You haven't seen her either?" Nina asked, her concern for Barb growing even more.

Nancy shook her head at her friend's question before asking; "Did you leave together last night?"

"No, I went to the bathroom and she was gone by the time I got back. Maybe she didn't like being ditched," Nina sheered making Nancy stare at her with frowning brows.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asked her friend who scoffed and shook her head.

"You **know** what I'm talking about," was all Nina said before walking away from Nancy.

Nina crossed her fingers that Barb would show up sometime during the day.

* * *

Nina's hope was disappearing when Barb didn't show up after lunch. When the bell rang to signal the school day was finished, Nina finished outside to where the payphone was, hoping that Barb was at her house.

"Hello?" the voice of Mrs Holland echoed through the phone passed against Nina's ear.

"Hi. Mrs Holland, it's Nina," Nina spoke with a smile to try and hid her unease.

"Oh, Nina, how are you?" Mrs Holland asked her daughter's friend who responded back; "I'm good."

Nina was silence for a moment before asking the dreaded question; "I was just wondering if Barb was there?"

"Mmm no, she hasn't come home yet," Mrs Holland answered which made Nina started to lose hope.

"But she did come home, right? After the vigil?" Nina asked, hoping that Mrs Holland says that Barb did go home last night.

"No, she said she was staying with you girls at Nancy's last night," Mrs Holland said, growing concern about why Nina was asking her about where Barb was.

Nina internally groaned when she remembered the lie that Barb told her parents in order to go to Steve's party. "Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up," Nina lied; hoping her lie wasn't going to bite her in the ass.

"Oh, um, no, I haven't seen her," Mrs Holland replied as she was beginning to become suspicious.

"Do you know what? I just remembered she's at the library," Nina lied again; already not feeling comfortable about lying to her friend's mother.

"Nina, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her?" Mrs Holland asked the young girl as she was getting worried about where her daughter was.

"Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you," Was the last thing Nina said before hanging up the phone.

She let out a loud sigh before turning around and jumping out of her skin when she saw Nancy was standing behind her. "Jesus, Nancy!" Nina cried out as she placed a hand over her pounding heart.

"Sorry. Was that Mrs Holland? Was Barb at home?" Nancy asked as she bounced on the balls of her feet nervously.

Nina just shook her head which made both girls sigh in frustration. _Where was Barb?_ Nina thought to herself as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Come on. Let's go to mine then we can drive around to see if we can find her," Nina suggested as she wrapped her arm around Nancy's shoulders.

Nancy nodded in agreement and both girls made their way to Nina's car. On their way there, they noticed Steve and his group of friends plus Nicole going through Jonathan's bag. "What's going on?" Nancy asked once they reached the group.

Nina noticed that Jonathan looked scared, but he grew even more nervous when he saw her. "Here's the starring lady," Tommy remarked making the girls look at him with frowning brows.

"What?" Nancy asked as Nina noticed Carol was holding a pile of photos in her hands.

"This creep was spying on us last night," Carol answered which made Nina's eyes widened.

_Shit! He must have seen me last night_ Nina thought to herself as Carol held out a photo to Nancy before remarking; "He was probably gonna save this one for later."

Nina looked over Nancy's shoulder to see the photo was of Nancy with her back facing the camera…and she was taking her top off. Nina shook her head at Jonathan who looked down at his feet in shame.

"See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but…man, that's the thing about perverts It's hardwired into 'em. You know, they just can't help themselves," Steve spoke; tugging on the collar of Jonathan's jacket before he began ripped up the photos.

"So… we'll just have to take away his toy," Steve told them making Nina realise what Steve was going to do.

"Steve," Nancy tried to plead with her boyfriend, but he ignored her.

"No, please, not the camera," Jonathan begged as he rushed towards his camera but was held back by Tommy standing in front of him.

"No, no, wait, wait, Tommy, Tommy," Steve said his friend who hadn't stopped laughing throughout this entire conversation.

Tommy stepped away from Jonathan as Steve continued talking; "It's okay."

"Here you go, man," Steve held out the camera towards Jonathan.

As Jonathan went to grab his camera, Steve let go and the sounds of glass shattering echoed along with a loud gasp from Nina.

"You're a fucking dick, Harrington," Nina snapped as she shoved Tommy back, not caring how much of her strength to put into her shove.

Steve looked down at Nina and he looked almost ashamed of what he had done. However, that faded as he spoke to his posse; "Come on, let's go. The game's about to start."

Nina quickly dropped to her knees to help Jonathan while Nancy looked down at them. Nancy's eyes landed on a photo of Barb as Steve called out; "Hey, Nance! Come on."

Nancy found the other pieces of the photo and quickly walked away, tucking the ripped photo in her bag.

Once they were alone, Nina calmly spoke; "If you tell anyone about what you saw last night…bad things will happen."

Her words made Jonathan even more scared of her as she saw his hands begin to tremble as he picked up his ripped photos and his broken camera. "What are you?" he asked making made Nina sigh.

They both stood up and Nina held out what she had collected towards him. "I don't know," she answered him before she gave him a small smile and walked away towards her car.

Nina jumped into her car and sighed loudly before resting her forehead against the steering wheel. For ten years she had managed to keep her abilities a secret…but now Jonathan knew and was terrified of her.

Her self-pity party was short-lived as the passenger door opened and someone jumped in her car. Nina quickly snapped her head up and towards the passenger side to see Nancy in the car. The two girls looked at each other before Nancy pulled out a piece of the ripped photo she picked up and held out towards Nina.

Nina grabbed it and looked down at it to see it was a photo of Barb sitting on the diving board looking down at her injured hand. "Let's go," Nina spoke as she passed back the ripped photo and started her car, knowing where to look for Barb first.


	7. The Figure

**NINA** drove them to the street that Barb had parked her car last night...which was still there. Nancy and Nina looked at each other with frowned brows before they jumped out of the car. Nina was the first to arrive at Barb's car and she looked through the windows. On the passenger seat still lied Nancy's sweater that she had removed last night. This informed the girls that Barb hadn't returned to her car.

"Barb!" Nancy called out in hope of her friend responding or revealing herself to the girls.

After a few moments of silence, Nina thought of an idea. "Come on, Nance," she said to her friend as she began making her way to Steve's house.

Once the girls had reached the house, Nina led them to the backyard and looked out at the woods behind the house. "Barb?" Nancy called out again as her eyes surveyed the woods.

A rustling noise echoed through the woods...sounding like someone was walking through the wood. Nancy reached down and gripped Nina's wrist as her friend began walking towards the woods. "Barb?" this time Nina called out for their missing friend.

Nina could feel Nancy shake slightly as she led them towards the woods. Another rustling sound echoed again making the two girls stopped and Nancy called out again; "Barb?"

Nina could hear growling coming from behind and suddenly something ran between the trees making the two girls' head whip around to look. Nancy fell to the ground while Nina's brows frowned in confusion as she could somewhat make out the figure. It was very tall with black skin...and it looked like it had no face.

Nancy gripped Nina's wrist again and began dragging her out of the woods and back to the car. They ran back to the car and jumped in, slamming the doors shut and locking them. While Nina's breathing was normal, Nancy was breathing heavily. "What was that?" Nancy gasped between each word.

Nina gripped her chin and rub it in thought. "Idk. It looked like person...but it didn't have a face," she thought out loud and she could out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nancy nodding her head.

The girls looked at each other for a few moments; both deep in thought.

"Let's get you home," Nina said as she turned on her car and began making her way to the Wheeler house.

Their car ride was silence as neither girl spoke and Nina didn't even bother putting on her radio.

"Call me later," Nina smiled at Nancy once they arrived at the Wheeler house.

Nancy nodded at her before rushing into her house; not wanting Nina to see her tears. But Nina knew she was crying because Nina was trying hard not to cry herself...at least until she got home.

Nina didn't care that she was speeding as she just wanted to get home. Once she had slammed her front door close, she rested her back against it and slid to the floor. Tears slowly fell down her cheeks as she remained frozen. She wasn't sure what had happened to Barb, but she knew something was very wrong and she thinks that the figure she saw was involved...or responsible.

By the time Nina had picked herself off the floor, the sun had set. When Olivia finally arrived home, Nina was cooking dinner for the two of them. "Hey Mum," Nina called out but didn't receive an answer.

"Mum?" she called out again as she now looked up to see Olivia standing in the doorway of the kitchen; her eyes red and swollen.

"Mum, what's wrong?" Nina asked concernedly as she walked over to Olivia and placed her hands on Olivia's shoulders.

"Nina, it's Will," Olivia took a deep breath before she continued; "They found him."

Nina noticed that Olivia's voice crack which made Nina's heart break. She knew what Olivia meant by that they found Will. They found his body.

Olivia threw her arms around her adoptive daughter who began letting out body wrenching sobs. Nina, as she was sobbing, began thinking about Mrs Byers and Jonathan and how they were coping.


	8. Alliance

"**THE** brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness, bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress," their English teacher was reading out loud but Nancy nor Nina were following along.

Nancy was staring out the window while Nina had her head resting against her desk; not wanting to be there.

"And Kurtz's life was running swiftly, too..." their teacher was interrupted by the door opening and the office administers speaking; "Nancy Wheeler and Nina Lance? If you'll come with me, please?"

Nina lifted her head off her desk to look over at Nancy before both girls got up; grabbing their things and following the office administer down the hallway to the cafeteria where Mrs Wheeler and Oliva were seated with Powell and Callahan seated across from them. "Mum, what's going on?" Nina asked as she sat down beside her adoptive mother.

Olivia shook her head before looking over at Powell and Callahan and nodding; signalling for them to start talking. "Nancy. Nina. We are here to talk that night with Barbara Holland. Can you tell us what happened?" Powell asked which the girls began explaining what happened that night; obviously leaving out a few things that the adults didn't need to know.

The two officers were writing down everything the girls said. "This argument you, Barbara and Nina had? What exactly was it about?" Powell interrupted the two girls which made Nina's brows frown in confusion as she didn't understand why he was asking them this question.

"It wasn't really an argument," Nancy began in a shaking voice before stopping which allowed Nina to explained further; "Barb and I just wanted to leave. Nancy didn't, so she told us to just go home."

Nina's voice was even and strong as she wasn't intimidated by the two officers sitting in front of her...mostly because she knew them personally from Olivia. "Then what?" Powell asked which this time Nancy answered; "Then I went upstairs to put on some dry clothes."

Nina knew Nancy wasn't telling the full truth about that night as Mrs Wheeler's eyes were staring her daughter down.

"And the next day, the two of you went back and... saw a bear, you're thinking?" Powell asked as he didn't believe what the girls had seen yesterday.

"We don't know what it was, but..." Nina began before she looked over at Nancy then continued; "We think maybe it took Barb."

"You need to check behind Steve's house..." Nancy begged and she was interrupted by Callahan; "We did. There's nothing there. There's no sign of a bear."

"And no car," Powell's words shocked the two girls.

"What?" They both asked in unison.

"Look. We figure that Barbara came back last night and then she took off, went somewhere else," Callahan explained which made Nina stare at him in disbelief.

"Has she ever talked to you two about running off? Leaving town, maybe?" Powell asked which made Nina snap; "No. No, Barb wouldn't do that, ever."

"She wasn't maybe upset about the fact that you were spending time with this boy? Uh, Steve Harrington?" Powell asked which made Nina grip her seat; feeling the plastic bend under her fingers.

"What? No!" Nancy shook her head; not believing what she was being asked.

"Maybe she was jealous because she saw you go up to Steve's room?" Callahan asked as Mrs Wheeler looked over at her daughter and her eyes narrowed.

"It wasn't like that," Nancy snarled which made Callahan ask; "Like what?"

"Steve and me, we're...we're just friends. We...we just talked," Nancy shuttered as she lied.

"Now was this before or after you changed out of your clothes?" Callahan asked which made Nina scoff under her breath.

"Well, if you boys are done, can we take our daughters home?" Olivia asked; speaking for the first time since the questioning started.

Olivia knew Callahan and Powell's questions were making Nancy very uncomfortable plus it didn't help that Mrs Wheeler was also staring down her daughter.

The two officers nodded which made the females stand up and walk out of the room. Nina quickly gave Nancy a goodbye before following her adoptive mother to her car. "They cared more about Nancy sleeping with Steve then Barb," Nina growled to Olivia who nodded in agreement.

"That's men for you," Olivia said before letting out a sigh as her fingers ran through her red curls.

"Tell me everything when I get home, ok?" Olivia asked Nina who smiled and nodded.

As Nina got into her car to drive home as both her and Nancy had been explained for the rest of the day, Olivia walked over to her police cruiser as she was still on duty. Had Nina not been involved, Olivia would have been the one questioning Nancy as Hopper preferred Olivia talking to the women than his male officers. They were more comfortable around her than anyone else.

* * *

Nina was back at home, laying on the couch when the phone rang. She jumped off the crouch and answered it with; "Lance Residence."

"Nina, I need you to come and take me to the funeral home. I think Jonathan can help us find Barb," Nancy's voice echoed through the phone.

"I'm on my way," was all Nina said before she hung up the phone and rushed out the door; not before grabbing her keys and locking the door behind her.

It wasn't long before she was outside the Wheeler house and Nancy jumped into the passenger seat. She handed Nina the ripped photo she had taped together which allowed Nina to see that it was a photo of Barb that Jonathan took that night...and there was something behind her. A large black figure standing over her.

Nina drove the two of them to the funeral home and they walked inside to see Jonathan looking at coffins. Jonathan looked over at the two girls then spoke to a man showing him the coffins; "Can you just give me a second?"

"Of course," the man said and he walked away from Jonathan.

Jonathan walked over to the two girls and greeted them; "Hey."

"Hey," the girls greeted in unison.

"Your mom, um... she said you'd be here. I just... Can we talk for a second?" Nancy asked him before the three teenagers walked into the hallway.

Nancy and Jonathan sat on the bench while Nina stood across from them, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Nancy showed Jonathan the taped-up photo which he now held in his hands. "It looks like it could be some kind of perspective distortion, but I wasn't using the wide-angle. I don't know. It's weird," Jonathan explained as he looked down at the photo.

"And you're sure you didn't see anyone else out there?" Nancy asked once Jonathan had handed back the photo.

"No. And she was there one second and then, um... gone. I figured she bolted," he stated which made Nina's brows frown in confusion.

"The cops think that she ran away. But they don't know Barb," Nina snapped as she couldn't believe that everyone took she just ran away.

"We went back to Steve's... and we thought we... saw something. Some... weird man or... I don't know what it was," Nancy explained before she grew awkward.

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come here today. I'm... I'm so sorry," Nancy apologised as she stood up from the bench.

Just as the two girls began to leave, Jonathan stopped them by asking; "What'd he look like?"  
"What?" Nina asked in shock as she turned her head back to look at Jonathan.

"This man you two saw in the woods. What'd he look like?" Jonathan asked; now curious about what the girls saw in the woods.

"I don't know. It was almost like he... he didn't have..." Nancy was interrupted by Jonathan; "Didn't have a face?"

"How did you know that?" Nina asked in disbelief.

* * *

"And you're..." Nancy began to ask but Jonathan answered before she even finished her question; "Brightening. Enlarging."

The three teens were in the high school's darkroom and Jonathan was fiddling with Barb's photo to see the figure better.

"Did your mom say anything else? Like, where it might have gone to, or..." much like what he did with Nancy, Jonathan interrupted the rest of Nina's question; "No, just that it came out of the wall."

"How long does this take?" Nancy asked as she leaned against the counter and looked down at the photo been developed.

"Not long," Jonathan answered with his focus on the photo.

"Have you been... doing this a while?" Nancy awkwardly asked which made Nina look at her in confusion.

"What?" Jonathan asked as he wasn't sure what she was asking.

"Photography?" Nancy asked; nodding down towards the photo.

"Yeah. I guess I'd rather observe people than, you know..." Jonathan trailed off before Nancy continued for him; "Talk to them."

"I know. It's weird," Jonathan stated which made both girls shake their heads.

"No!" Both girls argued in unison.

"No, it is. It's just, sometimes... people don't really say what they're really thinking. But you capture the right moment... it says more," Jonathan explained as he looked over at Nancy.

"What was I saying?" Nancy asked in what seemed like a teasing tone which made Nina raise a brow.

"What?" Jonathan asked in confusion which Nancy explained further; "When you took my picture."

Nancy's words caused Jonathan to tense. "I shouldn't have taken that. I'm, uh... I'm sorry. It's just..." Jonathan's awkward apology was interrupted by Nina exclaiming; "That's it. That's what I saw."

The other two teens looked down at the now developed photo to see a large black figure...with no face.

"My mom... I thought she was crazy 'cause she said... that's not Will's body. That he's alive," Jonathan explained as the three continued looking down at the photo.

"And if he's alive," Nancy began before Nina continued; looking up at the others; "Then Barbara."

Barb could still be alive...and so could Will. They had to find them.


End file.
